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Looking for oysters and finding pearls

GETTING THERE

Various airlines fly from Singapore to Sydney daily. Singapore Airlines flies to Canberra via Sydney, with a direct return connection from Canberra to Singapore once a day.

TIPS • South Coast oysters are

eaten all year round, but are usually creamiest from December to May, which coincides with the warmest months for alfresco dining.

• Australians drive on the left, as in Singapore, and the road rules are the same. Check with your car rental company on licensing requirements.

• Be aware that distances in Australia are huge. Allow at least three days to enjoy this trip, preferably more. Driving is most comfortable in daylight hours, as collisions with kangaroos and wombats at night are possible.

• A variety of accommodation is available along the South Coast, but during Australian summer holidays (mid-December to end of January), it is essential to book ahead.

Carolyn Beasley

If purity has a taste, this is it. In my hand sits a gnarled, grey

shell and its delicate contents have just been slurped down in one salty, creamy mouthful.

It is a Sydney rock oyster, an unas-suming mollusc at the heart of a sus-tainable, multi-million-dollar indus-try that is now spawning a trend – oyster tourism.

It is true that when you visit Aus-tralia, you should see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Great Bar-rier Reef.

But if you are an oyster lover, I have one tip. Go south. Far south, to the New South Wales South Coast.

Here, oysters are putting the South Coast on the map so I am spending three days following the Oyster Trail (australiasoyster coast.com/aoc-oyster-trail), a self-drive guide offering suggestions on finding oysters, other seafood and attractions of this under-rated beach region.

OYSTER ACCOLADESIn Sydney’s Royal Fine Food compe-tition last year, all of the medal-win-ning oysters were produced on the South Coast.

There is something special about these oysters, so I set out with my husband to discover more.

I start by hiring a car in Sydney – an alternate starting point is Canberra – and brush up on oyster facts.

Unlike fish farming, oysters do not require feeding, instead taking their food from natural particles in the water.

Oyster farming is eco-friendly and since oysters each filter about 20 litres of water a day, they are Na-ture’s cleaners.

The pride and joy of the South Coast is the Sydney rock oyster, na-tive only to south-eastern Australia.

Experts, including Australian oys-ter judge and seafood consultant John Susman, have declared Syd-ney rock oysters to be the best in the world.

Prized for their creamy, slightly salty taste and mineral finish, these oysters take at least three years to grow.

Other oysters grown here to a lesser extent are the native Angasi oyster and the Pacific oyster, intro-duced to Australia from Japan.

CELEBRITY CHEF

My first stop is the small seaside town of Mollymook, about three hours’ drive from Sydney or Can-berra.

This postcard town was chosen by British celebrity chef Rick Stein for his first restaurant outside Britain.

Rick Stein at Bannisters (bannis ters.com.au) sits on a raised coastal headland with a gorgeous view through the eucalyptus trees to the dazzling Pacific Ocean.

Stein explains in an e-mail that South Coast seafood is second to none. “Red snapper is caught in front of the hotel, there are yellow fin tuna, lobsters and squid, some-times still alive when we receive them,” he says.

But it is the South Coast oysters that have captured his heart. “I first tried them in my early 20s and was a seafood lover from then on,” he says.

Oyster aficionados will love the natural oysters with eschallot vine-gar or, for a party in the mouth, try the Oysters Charentaise, served raw with a side of spicy sausage.

SIMPLE PLEASURESDriving south along the Princes Highway, quintessentially Aus-tralian food awaits in Tuross Head at the Boatshed and Cafe (face book.com/Tuross-Boatshed).

Outdoor tables line a long jetty and, if I were any closer to the water, I would be swimming.

A local musician croons Aussie favourites as I wait for lunch.

I watch as a family stocks up on freshly opened Tuross oysters and the kids’ favourite – fried fish and chips wrapped in white paper.

Fishing rods, kids and the take-away seafood are piled into a small rented motor boat (called a “tin-nie”), which chugs across the shel-tered estuary, followed by a few hopeful seagulls.

The owner of the Boatshed and Cafe ensures that they depart safely and the kids in the boat give him a delighted wave.

As the boat progresses, small waves ripple outwards, forming a triangle with the tinnie at its apex and causing the reflected moun-tains to wobble.

It looks idyllic and I resolve that, next time, it will be me in the tinnie, having a lake picnic.

But for today, I enjoy my fish and

chips in the sunshine on the jetty, with a cold bottle of Australian craft beer.

NATURAL WONDERSContinuing south, a quiet coastal route to Bermagui traverses bab-bling creeks with old wooden bridges, just wide enough for one ve-hicle.

I stop to wait for a farm truck and I am thanked in the usual way: a single nod and raised index finger.

Approaching Bermagui from the north in early morning sunshine, I cross a 600m-long causeway with tidal Wallaga Lake shimmering on either side.

The road snakes through Mimosa Rocks National Park, where Wapengo Lake supports Australia’s first organic oyster farm.

The fresh water entering this lake flows through protected forests with negligible upstream develop-ment and no pollution.

The organic oysters from the Wapengo Rocks Oyster Farm (wapengorocks.com.au) are served at local restaurants The Bermagui Oyster Room (facebook.com/ber maguioysterroom) and Il Passaggio (ilpassaggio.com.au).

Before leaving town, I take a breathtaking dip in Bermagui Blue Pool, a natural ocean pool con-structed on a rock platform.

FAMILY FAVOURITENext stop is Merimbula, popular with Australian tourists for its family-friendly beaches and oyster-filled lake.

Here, I amble several kilometres along a boardwalk into the upper reaches of Merimbula Lake, while oyster farmers zip by in their punts, wearing waterproof overalls known as waders.

The walkway finishes at Top Lake Boat Hire (facebook.com/toplake boathiremerimbulaandsunsetskiosk), where I recuperate with coffee, watching black swans glide by.

In the evening, I find oysters be-ing served from a 1950s caravan at award-winning bar Dulcie’s Cot-tage (dulcies.com.au).

The cheery 1920s weatherboard cottage includes a cosy paved court-yard, twinkling with fairy lights.

MAGICAL BROADWATER About 10 minutes down the road is Pambula Lake, also known as Broad-water, where I join Captain Sponge’s Magical Oyster Tour(magicaloystertours.com.au).

Mr Brett Weingarth – call him “Sponge” – is part-oyster farmer, part-tour guide and all Aussie lar-rikin. His camouflage-painted boat idles as he hauls in a plastic mesh oyster bag.

“When we flip the bags over, tiny pieces of excess shell are removed and this helps keep a nice rounded shape to the oyster,” he says, ex-plaining that consumers prefer an attractively rounded oyster.

Next, he holds up a flat plastic “spat collector”. Spats are baby oys-ters and this collector has many at-tached wild baby oysters.

On the estuary’s banks, Sponge points out aboriginal middens – piles of discarded oyster shells and a window to the past – dating back more than 3,000 years and he jokes that eating oysters here is nothing new.

As he shucks the oysters with a special knife, he explains that oys-ters thrive in unpolluted, sheltered waters, where ocean and river wa-ters mix.

“Oysters take on the taste of their estuary, like wines take on charac-teristics from their place of origin.”

As we slurp the oysters, he contin-ues: “Clean and ancient Pambula Lake has given these oysters a

sweet, well-rounded flavour while not overpowering the palate with salt.”

Next door at Broadwater Oysters, Ms Sue McIntrye happily sells oys-ters direct to the public.

She explains that the South Coast farmers use non-polluting equip-ment and invest in local environ-mental projects.

The water’s cleanliness is re-flected in the shellfish themselves.

Unlike oysters elsewhere in the world, the ones here are approved for direct harvest, meaning they can be eaten straight from the estu-ary, with no cleansing or “depura-tion”. They are eaten raw, right off their shell.

“Sydney rock oysters are incredi-ble. They can be out of the water safely for two weeks, remaining alive and healthy until they are shucked,” she says.

An oyster is freshest the moment it is shucked and the champion shucker whips off the lids with al-most alarming speed.

Outside, the lake is turning pink in the sunset as I relax at the table with a local Rose, savouring a dozen of Broadwater’s finest.

OCEAN TO PLATEMy last stop is Eden, the southern-most town in New South Wales.

Here, I join the Ocean to Plate snorkelling tour with marine biolo-gist Scott Proctor (acwa.com.au) and find myself hunting for abalone.

The element of surprise is crucial, I am told, so diving down, I use one fluid movement to slide the flat tool under the unsuspecting mollusc, flipping it from the rock.

Later, we bag a spiky sea urchin and enormous blue mussels.

Scott cooks up the catch and adds to this ultimate picnic with prawns, local wine and cheeses and, finally, fresh oysters.

Dining on the world’s freshest seafood atop the red cliffs of Twofold Bay, I am overwhelmed with the pristine beauty and deli-cious seafood of the South Coast.

If the world’s my oyster, the South Coast is my pearl.

stlife@sph.com.sg

• Carolyn Beasley is an Australian freelance travel and environment writer based in Singapore.

Take a self-drive holiday to the sleepy fishing villages of the New South Wales South Coast, where the oysters are really making a splash

Captain Sponge’s Magical Oyster Tour (above) at Pambula Lake. PHOTOS: DESTINATIONNSW-DEEKRAMER

Cruises ramp up their offerings

SUNDAY TIMES GRAPHICS

Mollymook

Sydney

Tuross Head

Bermagui

MerimbulaEden

Canberra

Canberra

AUSTRALIA

NEWSOUTHWALES

MIAMI • It is just Fab-ulous. On the new Norwegian Bliss, cruise passengers can

listen to a Beatles cover band inside a replica of Liver-pool’s Cavern Club where the Fab Four performed in their early days.

It is just one of a dozen or so entertainment options – including playing laser tag in a space-themed, outdoor arena and piloting go-karts on a two-story racetrack – on the ship, which cost US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) to build.

It will ply Alaskan waters this summer and the Carib-bean in the winter.

Prices for a one-week Alaska trip in mid-July range from US$2,800 a couple for an inside cabin to more than US$11,000 for the exclusive Haven suites.

As Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Carnival Corp and Royal Caribbean Cruises build ever larger vessels and try to lure younger guests, they are floating ever more-elaborate on-board activities.

Carnival’s newest vessel, the 3,960-passenger Hori-zon, has a Dr Seuss water park, a Havana-themed night-club and an Imax theatre.

In March, Royal Caribbean christened the industry’s largest ship, the 5,518-guest Symphony Of The Seas, fea-turing an outdoor aquatics arena with acrobats, a zip line and wave machine for onboard surfing.

Norwegian, the oldest and smallest of the three big operators, ripped up the traditional model of cruise din-ing 18 years ago.

It allowed guests to choose which restaurant they wanted to eat at, with no assigned tables or times.

Since then, it has tweaked that model by adding “spe-ciality” restaurants that charge a little extra for a rib-eye steak (US$20) and truffle oil mashed potatoes (US$3).

It has also begun offering well-heeled travellers a pricey enclave within its ships called the Haven, with separate pools, spas and places to dine.

Now Norwegian, which, like its main rivals, is based in Miami, is asking guests to pay a bit more for enter-tainment. The go-karts on the Bliss cost US$9.95 for eight laps while the laser tag is US$5 for about 10 min-utes of galactic warfare.

“What they’re trying to do is minimise the crowds,” said Mr Stewart Chiron, who runs travel site cruiseguy.com.

The cost “is not going to dissuade you from going. It may dissuade you from doing it 20 times”.

Still, many entertainment options on the Bliss are free, including two water slides, the Beatles show and a couple of big musical revues including Jersey Boys, an almost full-length version of the Broadway hit.

The strategy is paying off. Norwegian said its on-board revenue is tops among

the big cruise operators at US$76 a day, compared with US$53 at Royal Caribbean and US$45 at Carnival.

Norwegian said the Bliss, its largest vessel at 4,004 passengers, is the most successful new ship it has launched, in terms of advance bookings and prices.

It is all about giving customers options, said Mr Andy Stuart, chief executive of the company.

“Someone could come on a cruise and eat in the main restaurants, he can not drink alcohol and walk off and not spend a dime if he chooses to.

“Someone else can come on the ship and spend a lot of money, depending on the experience he chooses.” WASHINGTON POST

Travel

The loot (right) from the Ocean to Plate snorkelling tour at Eden. EDEN

ACWA,

Register at www.straitstimesrun.com

Date: Sept 23, 2018 Time: From 4am Venue: Singapore Sports Hub

For enquiries, please call 6248 5777(Mon – Fri, 10.30am – 5.30pm, except public holidays)

or e-mail: info@straitstimesrun.com

Pambula Lake’s (above) clean waters give oysters a sweet, well-rounded flavour. PHOTO: DESTINATIONNSW

Merimbula (left) is popular with Australian tourists for its family-friendly beaches and oyster-filled lake. PHOTO: SARAHCHENHAL

Travel

Someone could come on a cruise and not spend a dime if he chooses to. Someone else can come on the ship and spend a lot of money, depending on the experience he chooses.

’’MR ANDY STUART, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE HOLDINGS, on giving guests options